Photo by Tom Jenz
Ed Hennings
Ed Hennings
On June 11, 1996, 22-year-old Ed Hennings was a gang leader and a drug dealer in Milwaukee’s urban Black community. He had wads of cash and a fast car. He had respect and notoriety. He told me, “I was the go-to guy in my family, in my circle, with my friends, in my community, know what I’m sayin’? If you need something, call Ed. If you need some meat on the barbecue grill, call Ed.”
Then, on that June 11, he made one very bad decision. He shot and killed a rival gang member. For his crime, he spent 20 years in Wisconsin prisons.
Incredibly, those 20 years inside turned out to be most productive for Hennings. “Inside prison, I rebuilt myself,” he said. “Every opportunity I got, every book that I could read, every class I could take, every magazine article that showed somebody who overcame the odds. I used my prison time to prepare, to better myself. The 20 years-time I did in prison is definitely the foundation for the things I am doing today. I went on a complete mission to be the best version of Ed Hennings I could be.”
He was released from prison in 2016. Since then, he’s made a positive impact on people who walk the ragged edge of life.
I met the Ed Hennings of today at a coffee shop in the central city. At age 51, he is remarkably fit, a picture of pride. I’ve known him for three years, and he’s always open for an honest conversation.
You spent 20 years in prison for homicide and were released in 2016. Since then, you’ve had success in business and in your dedication to helping others. Describe what you’ve been up to these past seven years.
I read somewhere that Benjamin Franklin said, “Men die at 25, but we wait until they turn 75 to bury them.” In other words, their dreams get slowly ground down over 50 years. People ask me about my last seven years, but I prefer to talk about 27 years because I include 20 years of prison time. I been dreaming for 27 years, and when an idea comes to mind, I go for it—whether it was my beauty salon, my trucking company, my line of footwear, or writing my book. I also go around this earth and give talks, telling people how important it is to dream—and to live your dream. I tell children’s parents, “Don’t kill your child’s dreams.” I tell adults who’ve lost their dreams, “Keep fighting to get your dreams back. Believe in yourself.”
Tell me about your businesses, GoTime Trucking … and the most recent, your line of shoes, Ed Hennings Quality Footwear.
I’ve been doing GoTime Trucking for five years. At one time, I was running five trucks, but now I am running just one, and I am doing the driving every day. It’s too hard to find quality drivers. I do box trucking. It’s called final mile deliveries, the last leg of transporting products. A year ago, I started my shoe business, Ed Hennings Quality Footwear, catering to working folks. I offer steel toes and comfortable shoes, but with a little style because I’m a hip-hop kid. The shoes are geared toward men, who want basics and comfort, not the shiny stuff. It’s still in the startup phase. I think of that business like feeding a baby, first you feed the baby, then the baby can feed itself, and then the baby is feeding you.
You are a motivational speaker. Your most recent effort is your “The Real Man Campaign.” You speak at schools, businesses, community and city events. Tell me about your Real Man Campaign.
I’ve been speaking around the country for the last five or six years. In prison, I shared the insights with other prisoners that my granddad taught me growing up. When my granddad got up to go to work, everybody in the house got up. We had to get dressed, wash dishes, cut grass, clean up, take out garbage. He taught us that we all work together to make the household run efficiently. But actually, he was teaching us principles of manhood, no one is going to give you anything, you have to work for it. A lot of those prisoners never received insight from their adult caretakers. So when I got released, I started speaking to people about manhood and adulthood. You can’t press pause on life, you have to figure it out on the fly. Parents, society, social media—so many factors are playing into influencing young men not being able to grasp manhood in its purest form.
How do you define your ideal of manhood?
First is self-discipline. A man can control himself, a boy cannot. The boy’s mind, body, emotions, his pocket—he struggles to control. A boy cries out when he wants something. A man needs to navigate this vessel of self-discipline through life. You have to control the vessel. It can’t control you. Second is manhood has to be bigger than you. A boy is all about me, me, me. But a man understands life is bigger than him. He does things for a bigger cause beyond selfishness. Life is a marathon, and it’s not just about money or selfish gain. A man has to make sacrifices. A man will give more to the world than he will get in return.
I know you often speak to inner city Black kids about these Real Manhood principles.
Many of our inner city urban youth have to know more than just reading, writing, and math. They need to know how to stay away from the streets and gang activities. Many need to know how to navigate themselves in a fatherless home. Too many of inner city families have no dad.
You go into schools and give motivational talks. What are the biggest problems you see in the Black urban youth of today?
It’s kind of like the blind leading the blind. If a young lady or man has a child at 17, 18 or 19, there is no safety net that says “You don’t know much about raising a child, but your community will band together to make sure your child does know.” If that child doesn’t get good parenting from those young parents, he probably won’t ever get it. The impact of the Real Man Campaign is that we’ll give kids the knowledge the young parents are lacking.
I’ve heard you talk to various groups. You don’t pull any punches in talking about parenting.
Going into the neighborhoods and watching a girl or boy argue with their mom, that hurts my heart. I been in a street gang, I been to prison, and still I never talked back to my mom. The men in my life made sure I knew to take care of my mama. I see moms today take out the trash, mow the lawn, shovel the snow, bring in the groceries. Meanwhile, her boy is in the house playing video games or doing social media. That mom is dropping the ball. She needs to teach her boy discipline. That may be old school, but it’s a foundational thing to growing up.
Let’s say I am a teenage Black kid. I grew up in a family without a dad, and my mom is working two jobs. The kids I’ve been hangin’ with are usually in trouble, even stealing cars or dealing drugs. What would you tell me?
I’d say you need the Real Man Campaign. You need a man to instill some values and character. Because I’d tell you the truth. To get out of your bad situation, it will take focus, strength and work. You see that high mountain? That’s what you’re faced with. But you have to climb that mountain, and the trails may be difficult including leaving your peer group. My advice goes back to the self-discipline of a real man.
On a related matter, I spend a fair amount of time in the central city talking to residents about their lives. Anecdotally, it seems as if younger Black men are angry, even carry around a kind of inner rage. The result can be domestic violence, foolish crimes, and reckless driving, to name a few. Do you agree?”
I do agree. There’s the environmental factor on the streets. Even if I’m not that tough guy, I have to make those other guys think that I am. Then, there’s the women who look at me. They say, “I want a man.” These factors make you create a facade, be somebody you are not. Ninety percent of us on the streets have been through some tough times, and that has made us hard, but we really don’t want to be that hard. We don’t want to be angry all the time.
A few years ago, you wrote a book, The Answers: A Guide To Passing The Test Of Your Life. Who is the audience?
The audience is the young urban community males. Being in prison taught me. I knew guys who were physically in prison and guys who were mentally in prison. Or you’ve never been in a physical prison, and you think you’re free, but mental prison has got you locked up. My book speaks to those guys. Starting September 7, through Wisconsin Community Services, I will be doing mentoring sessions for kids every Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m., and my book will be the focus.
Let’s try this approach. I will read some of your quotations I found online. Hopefully, you can comment on each one. Here is the first. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, It’s the way you carry it.”
The same fire that builds one burns another. You should be looking to take that fire and let it motivate you. Don’t let it defeat you. It’s life. You will face adversity, but let adversity motivate you. That anger inside you? Channel it.
Here is another of your quotations: “When your mindset is defeated, the result will be the same, no matter how many punches you throw physically.”
When I got to prison, I saw a lot of big strong men pumping iron. They had bulging muscles, but inside they were broken men, defeated mentally. Your fight is not with somebody else. Your fight is with yourself.
Here is another quote from you: “Life is the only fight that has nothing to do with how many punches you can dish out; It’s about how many punches you can take.”
Yeah. Life is about how resilient you are. Your ability to fight through adversity. Life is a constant challenge about solving problems, no matter how many things you have or how much money you have. Life is not going to stop teaching, no matter how old you are.
And another of your quotes: “If you hang out with me for too long, I’ll brainwash you into believing in yourself and knowing that you can achieve anything.”
I just won’t accept defeat. In prison, I had guys askin’ me to talk, to help them. I kept telling them, “You gonna get better.”
Finally, the last quote: “Having real men in our community has become top priority, from raising the kids, to how we function in relationships, all the way to our financial potential.”
We are distracted by so many things. We should be distracted by character or integrity. The thing about manhood, you can’t press pause while you figure it out.
On October 11, Hennings will give a virtual talk on DEI at Molson/Coors. On October 19, he will be the keynote speaker at the Youth Justice Conference in Madison.
